The Him has reported that russian drones they attacked on tuesday four of its humanitarian trucks that were transporting aid and “clearly” carrying visible badges that identified them as belonging to the institution. The attack – which, if confirmed, could be considered a war crime under international law, including the Geneva Conventions – has occurred in the vicinity of the town of Bilozerka, in the region of Khersonsouth of Ukraineas detailed by the organization.
According to the reconstruction released, the convoy, in which humanitarian workers from the agencies were OCHA y OMSwas attacked “while delivering assistance.” The aid was for a community “severely affected by the war that had not received assistance for months,” according to OCHA, the agency in charge of coordinating the institution’s humanitarian response.
“When aid workers were on the scene, an intense artillery fire and later during download [de la ayuda]two clearly marked trucks from the World Food Program (WFP) “They were attacked by drones,” they said. “Fortunately, the humanitarian workers were not injured, but two trucks were damaged and set on fire,” they added.
Russia no longer responds
Andrea De Domenico, head of the OCHA office in Ukraine and who was part of the convoy, has assured that the UN had reported previously, as usual, to the Russian forces of the displacement of the humanitarian mission. “We always notify, not to ask permission, but to say: there is a humanitarian convoy, don’t shoot. [Pero] the Russians, for some time now, no longer respond“, he said, adding that the population of the area where the attack occurred “since June” had not received regular help. With this, De Domenico has also underlined the seriousness of the episode, since until this attack “there had only been indirect incidents” against UN vehicles and personnel, as he added, in statements to the Italian newspaper ‘La Repubblica’.
“Deliberately attacking humanitarian workers and humanitarian goods constitutes a serious violation of international law humanitarian and may amount to a war crime“OCHA has also insisted in a written note, also recalling that “the Kherson region has recently recorded an increase in drone attacks, which have caused harm to civilians. These attacks must stop.” It is “absolutely unacceptable.”
In the same line, the foreign minister Ukrainian, Andrí Sibiga, has done an appeal to the States members of the UN so that condemn the incident. It was “a deliberate attack with drones,” he assured. Neither Sibiga nor the UN have specified whether the convoy was also made up of personnel from local government organizations.
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